Wire-connector



PATBNTED mu s, 1904;

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WIRE (30HNEGTOR. Armin -1216K mm 0:21. 9, 1 903;

Nb MODEL.

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ATTORNEY.

LITHQ, WASHINGTON D C UNITE STATES.

Patented January 5, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

I JAMES S. FORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN TELE- PHONE AND TELEGRAPH COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

WIRE-CONN ECTOR.

SSPEGIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 748,716, dated January 5, 1904. Application filed October 9, 1903. Serial No, 176,383 (No model.)

To aZZ whom it concern.-

connect wires with apparatus of'any kind or with voltaic batteries.

The connecting device is adapted to be applied to and released from wires with great celerity and case, is of quite low cost, and may with equal facility be employed to unite wires of the same size or diameter or wires of different sizes, and in the latter case is particularly convenient, since by it wires of different sizes may be clamped without reversing the parts of the device or in any way altering the adjustment thereof.

The device of my invention while designed mainly as a connector for wires employed as conductors in telegraphic, telephonic,or other electrical systems, in which case it becomes itself a portion of the electrical circuit, is also well adapted for use as a clamp or connector for wiresemployed mechanically, as in the construction of wire fences or wirework in general, and in either capacity is most con venient.

The device is composed of a tubular member having an opening on one side for the reception of the .wires and an inner jaw on each side of the opening with a plate withinthe tube and freely movable therein whose edges extend over the jaws and having a screw threaded in the tubular member adapted to press the plate toward the jaws and clamp in them any wires or rods that it is desired to connect together. The tubular memher is preferably of a rectangular cross-section, although this is notnecessary.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a section on line at ."c of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a section on line 31 yof Fig. 3.

In the several figures of the drawings,'a represents a tubular member of the clamp or connector, rectangular in cross-section and composed of the upper part 1, from which ex tend the side pieces 2 2, each terminating with an inward extension 3, whose inner surface inclines toward the inner surface of the side piece at an obtuse angle to form a wire holding jaw 7. The opening between thejaws is of suificient width'for any sized wire that the clamp is designed for. At each open end of the tubea and central thereof is a pendant or finger 5, preferably integral with the said tube and shorter than the side pieces 2, adapted to serve as a stop or abutment. A flat square plate at is inclosed within the tube a, the parts being so proportioned that it can be easily inserted and withdrawn. It is slightly narrower than the width of the tubechannel and shorter than the distance between the stops 5 5, so that it may have a free and unobstructed movement, as represented in Figs. 3 and 4;. A screw I), having a'slotted head and a rounded point 6, engages with a thread 4;, cut in the part 1 of the tube a, and has a jam-nut c to hold it firmly in place when it is pressing upon the plate 61.

When the clamp or connector is not in use, the screw may be turned inward to hold the plate against the jaws 7 7 but when it is to be used the screw is turned outward and the plate pressed against its end until sufficient space is made for the reception of the wires w 4.0 between the plate and the jaws 7 7, which are passed through the opening to the jaws, Then the screw is turned inward hard upon the plate, whose opposite and parallel edges are forced upon the wires and hold them securely in the jaws. The jam-nut is then screwed down upon the face of the part 1 and locks the screw in place. The plate being free in its movement readily adapts itself to clamp-wires of the same size or wires of different sizes in the jaws '7 7, and Fig. 3 represents a large and a smaller wire clamped in the jaws, the plate being inclined upon each wire. The screw end bearing upon the central part of the plate forces the same downward whether it is on a level or inclined. This clamp is equally serviceable for holding wires of round, square, or any other crosssection.

I claim- 1. A wire-connecting device or clamp comprising a tubular member having an opening in one side and a jaw on each side of the opening, a movable plate within the tubular member extending over the jaws, and means for applying pressure upon the plate to move it toward the jaws.

2. A wire-connecting device or clamp comprising a tubular member having an opening in one side and an elongated jaw at each side of the opening, a movable plate within the tubular member extending over the jaws, and means for applying pressure upon the plate to move it toward the jaws.

3. A wire-connecting device or clamp comprising a tubular member having an opening on one side and an integrally-formed elongated jaw on each side of the opening, a mov- 5. A connecting device comprising a tubular member having a horizontal opening on one side and a wire-holding jaw on each side of the opening, a stop at each open end of the tube, a plate within the tube having opposite edges extending over the jaws, and a screw threaded into the tube opposite said opening, whose point is adapted to bear upon the plate, substantially as described.

6. In a wire clamp or connector, the combination of a tubular member square in crosssection having a horizontal opening on one side and a wire-holding jaw on each side of the opening and a stop at each end of the tube, a plate within the tubehaving opposite edges covering the jaws, and a screw threaded into the tube opposite said opening whose point is adapted to bear upon the plate.

7. In a wire clamp or connector, the combination of a tubular member rectangular in cross-section having a horizontal opening on one side and a wire-holding jaw on each side of the opening and a pendant-stop at each end of the tube, a square plate within the tube having opposite parallel edges covering the jaws and a screw threaded into the tube central therewith and over said opening whose point is adapted to bear upon the plates.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 8th day of September, 1903.

JAMES S. FORD.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM P. SIDLEY, CARL A. Ross. 

